The invention relates to knife sharpeners, and more particularly to a grinding belt type knife sharpener of improved accuracy and ease of use.
Knife sharpeners and tool grinders of the grinding belt type, with one grinding belt or two, are well known. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,124,592, 2,124,593, 2,789,400, 2,341,068 and 1,076,801. Schaefer U.S. Pat. No. 2,124,592 referenced above is somewhat pertinent to the present invention in that it discloses a pair of grinding belts on adjacent rollers, with the knife or tool engageable between the rollers, and with the rollers at the location of knife sharpening covered by a "tire of rubber" which was said to be yeildable and relatively soft. However, the purpose of the yieldable material on the rollers, as stated in the patent, was only to help drive the two adjacent rollers together by friction, the two rollers and supported belts being pressed together at that location. The Schaefer patent contains no disclosure relating to the function of a rubber sleeve under the belt as a resilient cushion aiding in the sharpening of the knife or tool, and in fact, the rollers and belts of the patent are in an entirely different configuration from that of the present invention, with the knife to be sharpened shown longitudinally parallel to the axes of rotation of the rollers, failing to take advantage of the benefits of the present invention.
No belt type knife sharpener of the prior art has provided for the efficient sharpening and smooth cutting edge resulting from the apparatus of the present invention described below.